The Double Life of Clay Martin

By: Ethan Adkins

Photo Credit: Mark Tenally

A typical high school Athletic Director is in charge of all sports at their high school, however ours here at Jenks has a widely known secret, he also is an NFL Ref. His name is Clay Martin, he takes on the responsibility of managing both one of the state's best districts for athletics and managing NFL games each week. 

Being an NFL ref means you have to thoroughly understand the game, the rules, and how everything works. Luckily for Martin, he has a lot of experience with the game.

“I have a background in football, I played in junior high, high school, and even in college at the University of Tulsa,” said Martin.

Martin has played football for a long time and this experience helps him thrive within the game, however at first, officiating was just a way to make a few extra dollars. After college he became a school teacher, with his love of football he decided to pick up officiating as a side hustle to help out and get a little more money. 

He didn’t just start his career in the NFL though, he started at little league and worked his way up through junior high, high school, and eventually the Division 1 level. 

“That was my big break, I got hired to do division 1 for conference USA,” said Martin.

Conference USA is one of the many conferences in D1 (Division 1) football. When you get hired into D1 football your name gets put into a database where the NFL recruits officials from. However, there are a few more things you can do to get recruited by the NFL. Martin did 8 years of college football but then he would move on and do a few years of Arena Football, essentially indoor football on a smaller field, before being seen by the NFL and moving up into the major leagues.

Holding two jobs for anyone is super busy, and can be stressful, but for Martin his two jobs require him to be all over the country in just a matter of days. 

“I fly out on an early Saturday morning, get to the game site, our crew then has meetings for 2-3 hours, to go over film and videos from the game from last week to prepare for the teams the following day,” said Martin.

The day of the game is not any less busy. He wakes up early to have another meeting and breakfast with the crews, then be off to the stadium by 9:30 a.m. for a 1:00 p.m. game. When he gets there he has additional meetings over health, TV and security. He then enters the field about an hour before kickoff. After the game he’s on a flight by 6 or 7 in the evening and getting back here to Tulsa by midnight.

Being busy with the NFL on the weekends and sometimes during the work week can be stressful to manage, especially while not just working for Jenks but also being a husband and a father to his family.

“I think what has helped me through my journey is I’ve got an unbelievable team around me. The Athletic Department staff is very supportive and carries the load when I’m not here,” said Martin. 

However, the Athletic department isn’t the only one helping him out.

“My wife, my kids, and my family are very supportive of this, and it can be difficult but I have such great people around me to help,” said Martin. 

We all struggle with time management, from doing all of our homework, to getting enough sleep, to doing the things we like and keeping up with our sports. It’s always nice to have a supportive cast around us, to help share the load when we need help.

If you want to see more of Clay Martin then tune into the NFL, where you’ll see him making the calls on the field.